{"id":18504,"date":"2023-06-25T12:54:18","date_gmt":"2023-06-25T16:54:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esm4.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/?p=17006"},"modified":"2025-11-18T12:05:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T17:05:28","slug":"jun26-jul30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esm4.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/2023\/06\/jun26-jul30\/","title":{"rendered":"June 26th-July 3rd: Opening of the ESM’s first Summer Session"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1763485516506{margin-top: 40px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1719334448427{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”]Published on June 26th, 2023<\/em><\/p>\n

Back to This Week at Eastman<\/a><\/p>\n

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One hundred and one years ago this week at Eastman, on the morning of Monday, June 26th, 1922, the Eastman School\u2019s first-ever summer session opened its doors to students. \u00a0One week earlier, at the University of Rochester Commencement ceremony on June 19th, the Eastman School had just graduated its first two bachelor of music degree recipients.[1]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup> Now, on June 26th, Eastman\u2019s first summer session was co-incident with the summer session in other departments of the University of Rochester, and would run for five weeks altogether, ending with a day of examinations on Saturday, July 29th.<\/p>\n

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\u25ba ESPA 8×10 box 34-3 <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Whereas the Official Bulletins for the Eastman summer session in later years would run to almost 100 pages, the Official Bulletin for 1922 took up only 15 pages of printed copy.
\n\u25ba Official Bulletin 1922 summer session<\/em>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Official Bulletin of the 1922 summer session is displayed here in its entirety, 15 pages altogether.\u00a0 (By 1945, the summer session\u2019s Official Bulletin ran to 75 pages, reflecting a huge expansion in the curriculum, reflecting the school\u2019s continued growth over its first two decades.)\u00a0 In that first summer session there were, altogether, seventeen faculty members, 15 of whom provided studio instruction in applied music (on piano, voice, violin, organ, and harp), and two of whom taught courses for teachers of music in the public schools. \u00a0Eastman\u2019s student newspaper The Note Book <\/em>offered generous coverage of the summer session as it was being organized, and two of the summer faculty members were eventually covered in feature articles.\u00a0 Adelin Fermin, a member of the voice faculty, was quoted at length speaking of the advantages of a summer session,[2]<\/a> <\/sup>and Lucile Johnson, teacher of harp, was quoted speaking to the many possibilities that her instrument offered. (Ms. Johnson, as was noted in print, had given up performing engagements in Europe so as to teach in the summer session.)[3]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup> Both of those features are presented here. \u00a0In addition, the Rochester press duly reported on the opening of the Eastman summer session.[4]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

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This feature in the student newspaper The Note Book quoted at length one of the 1922 summer faculty members, Adelin Fermin (1867-1941), commenting on the summer session and its value. Mr. Fermin served on the Eastman faculty from 1921 until his retirement in 1935.
\n\u25ba The Note Book June 15, 1922 page 2 and page 3 (2 .JPGs)<\/em>
\n\u25ba ESPA 8×10 box 31-66 <\/em>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nLucile Johnson (1898-1992), first instructor of harp at the Eastman School and one of the 1922 summer faculty members, was quoted in this feature in the student newspaper The Note Book. Ms. Johnson (later Mrs. Lucile Johnson Rosenbloom) served on the Eastman faculty from 1921 until 1936 and was later appointed principal harpist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
\n\u25ba ESPA 4×5 box 5-84<\/em>
\n\u25ba The Note Book June 15, 1922 page 6 and page 7 (2 .JPGs)<\/em>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

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One noteworthy aspect of the 1922 summer session was that the six courses promoted in the curriculum were designed for those who were already teaching, rather than for the enrolled collegiate-level students.\u00a0 Mr. Jay Wharton Fay, supervisor of instrumental music in the Rochester public schools, had been engaged to teach three courses in public school instrumental music (organization and conducting; stringed instruments; and, woodwind instruments). \u00a0Alongside his work in the Rochester public schools, Mr. Fay taught in three summer sessions at Eastman (1922, 1923, 1924), and he was active at the national level as Chairman of the Instrumental Committee of the Music Supervisors\u2019 National Conference.\u00a0 In the latter capacity he wrote several features for the Music Supervisors\u2019 Journal <\/em>\u00a0(today the Music Educators Journal<\/em>). In the 1922 summer session, Mr. Fay used classes of school music pupils for demonstration purposes in the classroom, and he also organized those pupils into a symphony orchestra for regular rehearsals and ultimately to give a concert at the end of the session.[5]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

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\u25baPhoto, Jay W. Fay in The Note Book, December 21, 1922<\/em>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u25ba Photo, George Barlow Penny in The Note Book, April 23, 1923<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Besides Mr. Fay\u2019s courses, there would be three courses for teachers of music in public schools (public school methods; elementary harmony; and, the appreciation of music) taught by Mr. George Barlow Penny.\u00a0 Mr. Penny (1861-1934) belonged to that number of Eastman School faculty members who had been instructors in the D.K.G. Institute of Musical Art before 1921.\u00a0 A native of Kansas, Mr. Penny\u2019s career reflected a propensity not only for pedagogy, but for academic administration.\u00a0 Shortly after graduating from Cornell he had been invited to the University of Kansas where was a chief organizer and then the dean of the School of Fine Arts, in which he also taught composition, organ, and voice; he was later an organizer and the dean of the School of Fine Arts at Washburn College (Topeka, Kansas).\u00a0 Arriving in Rochester, New York, he served as Director of the Rochester Conservatory of Music (1910-15) which eventually was consolidated with the D.K.G. Institute of Musical Art.\u00a0 Besides his primary focus on music, Mr. Penny had been a lecturer on architecture, sculpture, and painting.\u00a0 By the time he began his Eastman School service, Mr. Penny had been listed in Who\u2019s Who in America. <\/em>\u00a0Until the end of his life he was a faculty member in theory, composition, and history, and also taught music appreciation.<\/p>\n

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\u25ba ESPA 4×5 box 5-54 <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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\u25ba Raymond Wilson in The Score 1940<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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\u25ba Allen Irvine McHose in The Score 1967 <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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The Director of the 1922 summer session was Mr. Arthur M. See, Secretary of the Eastman School (served in that capacity, largely comprised of financial responsibilities, from 1921 until his death in 1953).\u00a0 Mr. See (1889-1953) had served as secretary and had also taught piano in the Eastman School\u2019s forerunner institution, the D.K.G. Institute Institute of Musical Art; during that time his abilities as an administrator and manager came to the fore in significant ways that would amply prove vital not only for the Eastman school but also for the outside community.\u00a0 For two seasons (1918-1920) he organized a chamber music series at Rochester\u2019s exclusive Genesee Valley Club; for the following two seasons (1920-1922) he managed a concert series at Rochester\u2019s Convention Hall, engaging such artists as Fritz Kreisler, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Geraldine Farrar.\u00a0 Mr. See relinquished his concert management activity after the Eastman Theater opened in 1922. \u00a0According to his obituary, it was he who conceived the idea for a civic music association; in 1929 he co-founded (together with Mr. Eastman) the Rochester Civic Music Association (forerunner of today\u2019s Rochester Philharmonic Association), of which he would serve as executive director, as well as manager of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.[6]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup> Around the Eastman School of Music, Mr. See appears to have quickly won a reputation as a genial, resourceful, efficient, and calmly managerial professional.\u00a0 Students were routinely advised to \u201csee See\u201d about whatever issue or need, and in 1924 the student newspaper paid tribute to him noting that \u201c. . . the\u00a0 students\u00a0 and\u00a0 teachers and\u00a0 others\u00a0 in\u00a0 the\u00a0 Eastman\u00a0 School know\u00a0 that\u00a0 duties\u00a0 have\u00a0 been \u00a0assumed and\u00a0 done\u00a0 with\u00a0 no\u00a0 thought\u00a0 other\u00a0 than that\u00a0 of\u00a0 the\u00a0 good\u00a0 of\u00a0 our\u00a0 great\u00a0 school, that\u00a0 co-operation\u00a0 is\u00a0 always\u00a0 on\u00a0 tap\u00a0 in the\u00a0 secretary\u2019s\u00a0 office,\u00a0 and\u00a0 that\u00a0 this office\u00a0 radiates\u00a0 kindness,\u00a0 good\u00a0 will\u00a0 and efficiency\u00a0 in\u00a0 equal\u00a0 measure.\u201d[7]<\/a> <\/sup>\u00a0A wonderful acknowledgement!\u00a0 \u00a0Mr. See would continue to serve as Director of Eastman\u2019s summer session through 1926; in 1927 he was succeeded by Raymond Wilson, a member of the Eastman piano faculty and also the school\u2019s Acting Director in 1923-24.\u00a0 Having previously been chair of the piano faculty at Syracuse University, Mr. Wilson (1888-1969) served on the Eastman faculty from 1921 until 1953.\u00a0 From 1953 until 1967 the summer session was directed by Professor Allen Irvine McHose, a faculty member (and sometime chairman) of the school\u2019s music theory department.\u00a0 The contributions and innovations made by Professor McHose (1902-1986) to the summer session were of tremendous consequence, and he will be the focus of a later TW@E <\/em>entry.<\/p>\n

The students who enrolled in the 1922 summer session enjoyed one distinct advantage over the students who had enrolled for the previous fall semester: the Eastman School\u2019s physical facility was finished.\u00a0 As Eastman School Historian Vince Lenti has described, on opening day of the 1921 fall semester, only the third and fourth floors had been finished, with the result that classes and studio instruction were conducted amidst a constant backdrop of \u201cnoise, confusion, dirt, and debris.\u201d[8]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup> The formal opening of the Eastman School building had finally taken place on March 3rd, 1922 in an elaborate welcome to which the general public was invited.\u00a0 What had yet to take place was the opening of the Eastman Theater, which would ultimately take place the following September.\u00a0 Nevertheless, for purposes of instruction, the school\u2019s physical plant\u2014encompassing spaces for administration, classroom and studio instruction, and concerts in Kilbourn Hall\u2014was now complete.<\/p>\n

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While not inherently associated with the summer session, a particular Eastman School milestone occurred in the summer of 1922: the installation and launch of a radio transmitting service at the Eastman School.\u00a0 Earlier that spring, the Rochester press had reported that the two daily newspapers\u2014the Democrat & Chronicle <\/em>\u00a0and the Times-Union<\/em>\u2014would jointly make a gift of a radio transmitter and associated operating equipment to the Eastman School, which would then own outright and maintain the equipment.\u00a0 The proposal had met with the approval of both UR President Dr. Rush Rhees and Mr. George Eastman.\u00a0 The plan was for the broadcast of concerts from Kilbourn Hall and, later on, from the soon-to-be completed Eastman Theater, as well as other, extra-musical programming that would include government, weather, and market reports, and also baseball scores (it\u2019s the national game, after all!).[9]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup> The transmitting tower, made of steel and fully 52 feet tall, was erected on the roof of the Eastman School, where it was clearly visible from East Avenue.\u00a0 The connected equipment was on the school\u2019s fifth floor in a room directly below the tower.\u00a0 A photo of the tower was published in the Rochester press, and a similar photo is displayed here. The requisite license to operate a radio station was granted by the office of the U.S. Secretary of Commerce[10]<\/a> <\/sup>on July 6th, 1922, and the call letters WHAM were assigned to the Eastman School\u2019s service.\u00a0 On that same day the antenna was installed, with the further work of tuning and adjustments carried out more or less around the clock through the ensuing weekend.\u00a0 On the afternoon of Monday, July 10th, the Western Electric Co. engineer who had overseen the installation tested the set, and several telephone calls were received at the Eastman School confirming that the signal was being picked up by radio sets around town.\u00a0 Significantly, one listener telephoned the school from as far afield as Watertown, New York, indicating that the signal had gone further afield than merely the local vicinity.[11]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup> The first event to be broadcast from Eastman was a piano recital by faculty member (and summer session faculty member!) Raymond Wilson on Tuesday, July 12th.\u00a0 Mr. Wilson\u2019s program was duly published in the Rochester press for the benefit of those members of the public who owned radio sets and would be able to tune in.<\/p>\n

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\u25ba\u00a0 photo, ESPA Album 1-43.jpg <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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\u25ba\u00a0 Program, 1922 July 11 Raymond Wilson concert<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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\u25ba Program, 1922 July 29 Symphony Orchestra concert<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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During the summer session and beforehand, there were numerous recitals in Kilbourn Hall that June and July: mixed-bill recitals featuring students from Eastman\u2019s collegiate division, and also those featuring students from the Preparatory Department; and several other performances besides, including the graduation recital of Roslyn Weisberg, one of Eastman\u2019s two first recipients of the bachelor of music degree.\u00a0 There was also one faculty recital, given by pianist Raymond Wilson, which marked the first-ever live radio broadcast from the Eastman School, as noted above. \u00a0The summer session\u2019s closing concert (formally promoted as such) was given on the morning of Saturday, July 29th, when summer faculty member Jay W. Fay directed the orchestra\u00a0 that he had organized, comprised of pupils from the city\u2019s instrumental music program.\u00a0 (The printed programs for both Mr. Wilson\u2019s recital and the symphony orchestra concert are displayed here.)\u00a0 Altogether, while slightly briefer in duration than the summer sessions of later years and thus far comprised of a limited curriculum, the 1922 summer session might well be said to have established precedents for the coming time.\u00a0 The intellectual and musical caliber of the summer session administration and faculty, the splendid physical plant that was now finished, the availability and implementation of up-to-date technology, and the public showcase of performances at all levels (faculty, collegiate, community)\u2014all of this and more was true then, and remains true today.\u00a0 The Eastman School\u2019s summer session is traditionally a vibrant season of academic, professional, and extra-curricular activity offering something for everyone. Today, under the brand Summer@Eastman and directed by Dr. Sylvie Beaudette (! who is also a pianist, following in the line of the early directors See, Wilson, and McHose), the summer session offers residential music programs, day camps, online courses, and week-long institutes covering various instruments.[12]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 One hundred and one years along, the summer session is stronger than ever.<\/p>\n

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[1]<\/a> \u00a0The ceremony was held at Third Presbyterian Church downtown.\u00a0 From 1923 onwards, with the completed Eastman Theater available as a showpiece venue, the University\u2019s Commencement ceremonies would be held there each year.<\/span><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> \u00a0\u201cFine summer session for Eastman School predicted\u201d in The Note Book, <\/em>volume I, no. 19 (June 15, 1922), pages 2 and 3.<\/span><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> \u00a0\u201cLucile Johnson talks of possibilities of the harp.\u201d\u00a0 Ibid., pages 6 and 7. \u00a0<\/em>The harp has enjoyed a continuation in Eastman\u2019s summer session, both in instruction and performance, since 1922 and into the 21st century.\u00a0 Professor Kathleen Bride, Eastman\u2019s current professor of harp, has offered her popular program \u201cThe Practical Harpist\u201d during many summer sessions.\u00a0 In summer of 1969, the Eastman School hosted the 6th annual conference of the American Harp Society (featured in TW@E, <\/em>week beginning June 26, 2022).<\/span><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> \u00a0Indeed, ever since the groundbreaking and start of construction of the Eastman School and Eastman Theater, the Rochester press had reported in detail the developments at every juncture. Now, with the school completed and in session, news of the Eastman School was regularly reported as representing a major new locus of cultural activity in the city.\u00a0 An extensive sequence of press coverage is preserved in the Eastman Theater Scrapbooks and in the Rochester Scrapbooks, Sibley Music Library.<\/span><\/p>\n

[5]<\/a>\u00a0 \u201cSummer session of Eastman School of Music to open to-morrow; courses for teachers of music in public schools.\u201d\u00a0 Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, <\/em>June 25, 1922.\u00a0 Preserved in Eastman Theater Scrapbook no. 1, p. 17.\u00a0 Sibley Music Library.<\/span><\/p>\n

[6]<\/a>\u00a0 \u201cArthur M. See, Eastman School Secretary, dies\u201d in the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, <\/em>March 5, 1953.\u00a0 And, \u201cPhilharmonic pays tribute to manager\u201d in the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, <\/em>\u00a0March 6, 1953.\u00a0 Both items preserved in the Faculty File, Ruth T. Watanabe Special Collections. \u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

[7]<\/a>\u00a0 \u201cArthur M. See\u201d in The Note Book, <\/em>volume III, no. 10 (March 3, 1924), pages 1, 4.<\/span><\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> \u00a0Vince Lenti, For the Enrichment of Community Life: George Eastman and the Founding of the Eastman School of Music <\/em>\u00a0(Meliora Press, 2004), page 59.<\/span><\/p>\n

[9]<\/a>\u00a0 \u201cEastman School given Democrat <\/em>radio apparatus\u201d in the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, <\/em>May 27, 1922.\u00a0 Preserved in Eastman Theater scrapbook no. 1, page. 17.\u00a0 Sibley Music Library.<\/span><\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> \u00a0Serving as Secretary of Commerce at that time was Herbert Hoover, who would be elected President in 1928.<\/span><\/p>\n

[11]<\/a>\u00a0 \u201cEastman School radio set all ready for use\u201d in the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, <\/em>July 11, 1922.\u00a0 Preserved in Eastman Theater Scrapbook no. 1, p. 18.\u00a0 Sibley Music Library.<\/span><\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> Summer@Eastman<\/a> on the Eastman School of Music website, \u00a0accessed on June 28, 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n

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